In the early morning hours of May 8, 2021, 24-year-old Joshua Serenity Hollis, a Black transgender woman known as Serenity, was shot and killed while walking on a street in Albany, Georgia. An unknown assailant approached from behind and fired a single shot into her back; the fatal encounter was captured on video later released by the Albany Police Department. Authorities, including the Dougherty County District Attorney, investigated the killing as a potential hate crime, and Serenity’s family believes her identity may have been the motive.

Serenity had moved from Orlando, Florida, to Albany in 2019 and was described by family and community members as building a new life. She had survived a previous violent attack about two and a half years earlier when she was stabbed multiple times at an Albany nightclub. Her death was counted among at least the 25th violent deaths of transgender or gender non-conforming people in the United States in 2021. The investigation remains open and no arrests have been announced.

If anyone has information about the shooting or the person seen on the released video, please contact investigators.